One of my New Year's resolutions was to read one book per month in 2013. Here is what I've read so far + reviews... :)
1.
C I guess I just have a different sense of humor, but I stopped reading this about half way through. Just not that good.
2,
C Again, maybe I wasn't in a the right mindset, but I didn't really get a lot out of this one either. If you are really new to mothering or children, then you might get a lot out of it; it just seemed really basic, maybe, and not super well-written. I also did not finish this one, so I counted both of these for one month. :)
3.
A This book will reeeeally benefit you if you have sugar issues, meaning, if you are constantly craving sweet foods or refined carbohydrates. It also talks about how sugar sensitivity is linked to alcoholism and other addictions. (After all, alcohol turns STRAIGHT into sugar in the bloodstream, and many alcoholics cannot succeed until the also give up sugar.) Cutting WAY back on sugar is something we ALL need to do, no exceptions, and I have recently done that. (Search for "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" on Youtube for an excellent video on the subject.) But if you are very sugar sensitive (which I found out I am not really, even though we all are affected by it), then you have to get rid of ALL of it, plus all sweet things, even Stevia. This book takes you step by step through the process without beating you over the head about it.
4.
A+ This book is amazing, wonderful, glorious, and all the other good adjectives in the dictionary, lol! It's the perfect eating plan/weight loss/ healthy eating for life book. It's written by 2 Christian moms with large families who did a ton of research on nutrition (one my FAV topics as well). One even used to be a Vegan. It follows pretty closely the philosophy of Weston A Price/Nourishing Traditions if you're familiar with that. I was always a fan of that farm fresh, whole food philosophy myself. It's not strict in that you can use some convenience and processed foods (or not if you so choose); you don't have to make everything from scratch and spend hours in the kitchen. You never go hungry or count calories. The books has lots of recipes, but once you learn the concept, you can adapt almost any meal to make it fit and research and find tons of recipes. The basic premise is separating your fats from your carbs and then getting rid of processed sugars and starches (simple carbs). There are very few "off limits" foods. It also has chapters on other health topics as well which I found enlightening: hormones, sex, exercise, etc. Love it. I use it all the time for reference, and even though I cheat way too much, I have lost 7 lbs! woohoo.
5.
A+ This is an excellent book! I highly recommend it!
6.
B I have not seen the movie yet, but this is an incredible story. The book does have some slow parts, and I personally thought the husband was pretty, ummmm, slow to learn in dealing with his wife. It seems like common sense to me that if your wife doesn't remember who you are, you have to woo her all over again and try to get her to fall in love with you, not push her away by making sure her physical therapist is pushing her EVEN harder than he normally would have and trying to be her coach and father. Yet someone had to tell him all this. Maybe it's just because I'm a woman that I think this way. Still a great story.
7.
B This book is full of tips for running a household, and it's not just for large families. I do think you need to go into it realizing that her EXACT methods may not work for you, and you may need to tweak a lot. I wish her tone was less "the is THE way to do it" and more like, "These are some ideas that have worked well for me." That's my only complaint about the book. It has a legalistic tone even if that isn't the author's intent. I really enjoy her blog, so I don't know that it was intentional. Just read it with the mentality to take what works for you and leave the rest. I do think it's a valuable resource!
8.
A+ This book is excellent! It's not a practical tips book (although there are some of those) but gets to the heart of issues moms deal and struggle with. While it probes deeply, it comes off with grace rather than condemnation. It's challenging and encouraging at the same time. Each chapter is so short you could read it as a morning devotional. I need to go through it again. It was so good I wanted to finish it quickly, but I need to read it more slowly to be able to digest the points she makes.
9.
A+ This is a Bible study I did with some friends. It goes through various issues like fear, discontent, anger, etc and teaches us how to deal with them by seeking Christ and His power to overcome them. It's full of grace and void of striving/try-harder theology that really cannot lead to lasting change. I like that she keeps the correct focus and gets to the real heart of these issues rather than sticking a behavior management strategy on them.
10.
B+ I was excited to do this study, as I love Jen Hatmaker's blog and listened to a seminar she did that literally changed my life. Her story of how she and her husband left "churchyness" and the Christian, comfortable sub-culture and moved to South Austin to start a church which focuses on meeting people where they are and helping the "least of these" is amazing. I think that the book that goes along with this study tells that story. We only did the study. It was good and challenging in a way unlike most studies I have done. It will stretch you! The reason I gave it a B instead of an A was because it didn't seem to come from the grace standpoint I wrote about in the previous review, but from a, "we're doing it wrong, we simply need to do better," standpoint. It also was not nearly as well written as some of her stuff I've read, included almost everything in her blog. The other reason was because she is misinformed about some political things and wrongly equates liberal politics with Biblical practices. She doesn't harp on it or speak very much about it, but some things written in passing I was shaking my head at. Overall, worthwhile, though.
- Remember you're talking to EVERYONE on FB, so posting passive-aggressive notes you hope one person sees is annoying. The same goes for very specific posts you know 99% of people won't care about.
- On the other hand, you have people posting things that are so random and vague, no one has any idea what they're talking about. The poster most likely wants someone to ask what's going on. Just tell us. No random posting.
- If you're posting something controversial, bring it on; just be ready for others to post an argument or evidence that counters what you're saying. Be ready for it, and as long as it's respectful, it's respectful for YOU to respond to it. At the very least, just say that you'll have to "agree to disagree" or something like that.
- Don't be afraid to post something that counters an outrageous claim or post by someone else. Of course, it's not always the time or the place, and wisdom may lead you rightly to keep your mouth shut, but don't let fear be your guide. Remember, you are not just talking to that person but to EVERYONE who reads that post. You have the power to be influential or at least make people think if it's something that really matters.
- Don't hate on people who post controversial stuff. If we can't talk about things like this, in a respectful way, on FB, where can we? It's intimidating to bring this stuff up in person, and trust me, you don't want me or anyone else asking you constantly things like, "Do YOU drink raw milk? Why not? Here are all the benefits...." "YOU let your baby CIO!? OMGee. That is terrible. Have you seen the research on that?" "Who are you voting for? You're NOT voting? OMGee. What kind of American are you?"
Trust me, you don't want that kind of confrontation going on. You don't want to have to tell me to my face how crazy I am, haha. On FB, you have the freedom to ignore it, roll your eyes at me, tell your husband how crazy I am, all in the privacy of your own home!
OR, better yet, we have the time to read controversial stuff, research it for ourlseves, and come up with our stance on things like this. Think of it as a giant think tank, full of bright people we can bounce ideas off of, instead of a bunch of annoying, outspoken people who don't agree with what YOU'VE always thought. Stretch yourself a little. :) I know all our kids are cute, but a FB full of ONLY cute kid pics and corny infographics is my worst FB nightmare, haha. We will all become mindless, thoughtless goons.
- Corny infographics are annoying. I'm probably being hypocritical saying this because of what I just wrote, but oh well, they are.
- Don't only post about ONE issue ALL the time. We all get on kicks where we're excited about something, but if you only post about ONE thing everyday, people will start to tune you out. This includes your business. Don't use your personal account to ONLY post about business. Start a new business account.
- We really do. not. care. that you're working out every morning or what you eat for every meal or that work is a little boring today. Don't be the boy who cried wolf. :) Be discriminating about what you post.
- Be encouraging.
- and most importantly, be TACTFUL! Just be nice. :)
I'm sure I've personally broken almost all of these at some point, but it's something to strive for, to make a more peaceful and mutually beneficial FB environment.
